Recipe for making moonshine from apricots

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Apricot moonshine is the most popular distillate in the world. Brandy (rakia, schnapps) is made from this fruit all over the planet - from the Middle East and the Caucasus to the States, Germany and the Balkans. Some connoisseurs put this drink above many vintage cognacs.

Apricot is very reluctant to release juice and contains a large amount of pectin. Despite this, various types of alcoholic beverages are prepared from it: liqueurs, liqueurs, tinctures, wines, etc. And the best of them is home-made moonshine from apricots. A simple method of preparation and provides him with such popularity. When forcing, the aroma and flavor of the fruit is concentrated and turned into an amazing product. It becomes especially elegant and thin after a long exposure. From the article you will learn how to make moonshine from apricots at home. So let's get started.

Main issues

Apricot belongs to the trees of the Plum genus. Therefore, the main problem of this fruit for the moonshiner and winemaker is the pectin contained in the fruit. It tightens the fibers of plants, makes the mash cloudy (the distillate obtained from it),does not allow juice to separate and promotes the formation of methyl alcohols. The latter are not needed at all in apricot brandy.

Mining methods

So, in order not to leave the precious juice in the squeezes and quickly get it in full, you should use the following methods:

• Pectolytic enzymes. There are quite a few of them. For example, "Depectyl" "Clarification" and others. But it should be borne in mind that after the enzyme treatment, the wort will need to be reheated.
• Diffuse method. Rough extraction is used, followed by infusion in warm water for several hours. In this case, as much water is taken as indicated in the recipe.
• Heating the wort for 20-30 minutes (temperature 60-70 degrees).

But there is one caveat worth mentioning. In all three methods, the mash will ferment on CKD (pure yeast culture). They are used specifically for fruit wines. If there is a desire to make mash in the simplest way, then apricots cannot be washed and heated. Over time, they will independently ferment into the wort on the so-called natural, wild yeast. But it should be borne in mind that without yeast, moonshine from apricots is prepared much longer and it turns out less. The maximum it ferments up to 14-15 degrees. With baker's and alcohol yeast, the process is accelerated many times over. However, the resulting product will have a clear moonshine flavor, which is quite difficult to get rid of. Let's move on.

Apricot Braga formoonshine

A simple, basic recipe based on wild yeast. And it is necessary to act according to the “red” technology, that is, when the must ferments along with the pulp.

The amount of added sugar is regulated independently. For example, if very sweet fruits are caught, then you can put it less than indicated in the recipe. Apricot moonshine is also made without sugar. But in this case, it will come out very little. On the other hand, if you overdo it with a sweet additive, you will get not apricot brandy, but ordinary sugar moonshine. And it is always important to pay attention to the presence of fructose (about 150 grams per liter). Taking into account it, the sugar content in the wort should not exceed 25% during the fermentation of the drink with wild yeast. If this percentage is exceeded, then the mash will simply not ferment.

Ingredients and wort

Apricot moonshine without yeast should be made in compliance with the following optimal and proven proportions:

• 10–12 liters of water;
• 4 kilograms of sugar (to speed up the fermentation process, sugar must be inverted);
• 2 buckets of ripe apricots.

Before preparing the wort, all fruits are sorted. Moldy and rotten parts are cut off, and the bones are removed. If they are not removed, then the moonshine mash will have an almond flavor. If, on the contrary, you love him, then the bones should be added later - immediately after the first run.

Fruits are crumpled with a pusher or hands. Sugar and water are added to the resulting mass, mixed well, poured into a container with a wide neck, covered with gauze and set for 2–3day in a dark place. During this time, a hat of pulp will appear on the wort. It must be knocked down and periodically stir the whole mass with a wooden spoon. After a couple of days of fermentation, the wort will be ready, and it can be put under a water seal.

Another homemade apricot moonshine recipe

By preparing the wort using a different technology, you can get lighter mash. As a result, moonshine from apricots will become more noble and pure. To do this, add a third of sugar and a third of water to all fruits. Further, everything is kneaded until a homogeneous mass is obtained and fermented in the manner indicated above. After 2-3 days, it is necessary to drain the resulting liquid and squeeze the pulp well. After diluting with the remaining sugar and water, putting under the shutter.

The resulting wort is poured into a suitable container - a plastic barrel or bottle - and put under a glove or under a water seal for rapid fermentation. Depending on the density of the mash, the sweetness of the fruit, temperature and other circumstances, this process lasts from a week to a month. On CKD everything goes faster. The readiness of the mash can be determined by the shutter: it stops blowing bubbles.

Of course, you cannot be one hundred percent sure that the mash has not burnt to the bottom of the cube (the only exception is the owners of steam generators). Therefore, if driven not by steam, but by the standard method, then the mash must be separated from the pulp by filtering and pressing. Well, for complete purity, you need to use one of the cleaning methods, which we will briefly list below.

Methodsbrightening: gelatin

This is one of the best ways to get rid of haze. For 10 liters of moonshine, you need from 0.5 to 2 grams of natural, high-quality gelatin. Before pasting, it is soaked in 5-10 times the amount of water for 2-3 hours. Then add the same amount of boiling water and mix thoroughly. The result should be a gelatin solution without lumps with a temperature of 35–40 oС.

Then it is poured in a thin stream into the moonshine and at the same time the drink is constantly stirred. Then the resulting mixture is poured into a vessel, tightly sealed and settled in a dark place for two to three weeks until precipitation.

Egg white

To clarify 50 liters of moonshine, just one egg white is enough. For 100 liters, take 2-3 pieces. It is very important that the eggs are fresh. The protein is carefully separated from the yolk and lightly whipped into foam with a little water. The resulting solution is poured into moonshine and mixed thoroughly. After that, a water seal is installed on the container and the drink settles for 2-3 weeks.

Fish glue

For 100 liters of moonshine, 1.5–2 grams of selected catfish glue is enough. It must be soaked in cold water, which is changed until the glue granules are completely swollen. After a small amount of moonshine should be heated and poured onto these granules.

When the glue breaks, it must be filtered through the flannel. This will help get rid of lumps and various impurities. Then the rest of the moonshine is poured in there and carefullyis mixed. After 2-3 weeks, the precipitate completely falls out.

Milk (casein)

Some quite successfully lighten moonshine with this particular liquid. For 1 liter of drink, 1 tsp is taken. skimmed milk. Then everything is thoroughly mixed and settled for several days until a precipitate falls out.

First distillation

Any distillation apparatus that can operate in distiller mode is suitable for it. The process is carried out with the maximum supply of water and at maximum temperature. By the way, this rule applies to all fruit brews. To prevent splashing into the product, a dry steamer must be installed in front of the refrigerator. Well, and, of course, you should not fill the tank more than 2/3 of its volume.

The distillation is carried out almost to dryness and ends when the fruity smell is no longer felt in the tailings. If you are afraid of methyl alcohol, you can select several heads already at the first pasture (with our amount of ingredients, this is about 100 ml.). From the indicated volume of fruit, about 5–7 liters of moonshine from apricots with a strength of 30–40 degrees are obtained.

Then the pervach should settle for a few days. If the distillate is too cloudy, you can additionally pass it through a carbon filter. But according to the assurances of people who know how to make moonshine from apricots at home, this will negatively affect the aroma of the drink. Although this can be fixed.

If, after the initial distillation, moonshine came out not fragrant enough and you feel bad in itfruity notes, it is worth throwing a few fresh apricots into the jar for the “rest” of the drink. Well, to give moonshine a light almond note, like the famous Amaretto liqueur, raw alcohol is specially insisted on apricot pits (3-4 broken kernels per liter). When re-distilled, the hydrocyanic acid contained in them will decompose to aromatic compounds. But you should be careful - not everyone will like the taste of almonds.

Redistillation

To make high-quality moonshine from apricots at home, just one distillation is not enough. A second one is definitely needed, and it is done fractionally: with cutting off heads rich in volatile alcohols (methylene and others) and tails containing fusel oils. If necessary, the raw material is diluted before distillation to 30 degrees. The diluted liquid is poured into the tank with the heating turned on at minimum power. The optimal distillate output rate is 2-3 drops per second.

Ready-made fractions are taken in the amount of 5-10% AS - this is approximately 250 ml per our volume. The selection of the body can begin after the dripping liquid ceases to smell like acetone. "Heads" are not used. They can be used to disinfect equipment or simply poured out.

During the selection of the "heart", the heating should be slightly increased. Pumping continues after reaching 50 degrees in the jet. At this moment, a badly smelling “mutnyak” will drip from the apparatus, which is the tail fractions. They, too, can be driven dry and used during the nextmaking brandy from apricots.

When the "tails" are on the way and the strength of the moonshine goes down, you should remove the head fraction and put other dishes under the refrigerator. Then the drink is added to the body literally 200-300 ml until it has lost its fruity aroma and becomes cloudy.

That's it, the apricot moonshine, the recipe of which was presented above, is ready! But you can use it only after it has settled in a glass bowl for two weeks. Well, it would be useful to first dilute it with clean water to about 40–45 degrees. And to turn moonshine into apricot brandy, you need to infuse the drink in a barrel. In the absence of a barrel, a simple and cheap alternative is quite suitable - oak chips. You need to put it a little - there is only one 10-cm chip per liter of moonshine. It is not recommended to exceed this amount, as the drink can turn into an unpleasant-tasting “stool”. Well, it’s worth keeping longer - at least two months.

In closing

Now you know the recipe for moonshine from apricots at home. As you can see, there is nothing supernatural in its preparation. Neither virtuoso skills nor sophisticated equipment are needed. All you need is a desire and a sincere love for fruit distillates, which are rightfully considered the real elite among home drinks!